In a combustion engine, air from the surrounding atmosphere is introduced to the engine to mix with fuel in the combustion chamber. Dirty and/or contaminated intake air may not only affect the engine performance, but also damage moving parts of the engine, resulting in increased maintenance costs and reduced life of the engine. To ensure the cleanliness of the intake air, an air cleaner is used to filter out dirt, debris, and other contaminants from the intake air.
Off-highway machines, such as, for example, tractors, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, bulldozers, and excavators, may operate in and be exposed to harsh working environments with high concentrations of dust and debris. The air cleaners used in these machines offer high strength to withstand the vibrations expected in the machines and high dirt-holding capacity to adequately protect the engine for the desired service life of the filter elements. Accordingly, these machines are equipped with a relatively large air cleaner. An air cleaner may include an air filter element and a filter housing for housing and protecting the air filter element. Certain types of air cleaners may have a gap between a primary filter element and a filter housing. The gap may allow unfiltered air to bypass the primary filter element and deposit dust and debris in a space between the primary filter element and the filter housing, which may require extra cleaning of the filter housing when replacing or servicing the primary filter element. Further, the dust and debris accumulated in the space may cause discoloration of the secondary filter element, creating a fictitious belief that the dust is getting past the primary filter element or that the air cleaner is inferior to other designs.
One example of an engine air cleaner for a motorized vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,890 B1 (“the '890 patent”) to Ramos et al. The air cleaner disclosed in the '890 patent includes a housing and a media pack oriented within the interior volume of the housing. The media pack has first and second opposite flow faces and is constructed such that the air flows into the media pack through the first flow face and exits the media pack through the second flow face. The air cleaner also includes a seal member forming a seal between the media pack and the housing.
Many problems and/or disadvantages still exist with the known filter elements and/or filter housings. Various embodiments of the present disclosure may solve one or more of the problems and/or disadvantages discussed above.